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Marriott publishes a summary of Platinum welcome benefits from August

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Marriott has published a PDF (link deleted as document removed) summarising the welcome gifts and amenities that Platinum members in the new combined Marriott Rewards / Starwood Preferred Guest programme will receive from August.

The bad news is that it now seems that SPG Gold members who have status via American Express Platinum and who matched their Marriott account to Gold will NOT receive Platinum status in August.  This is a reversal of what we were told when the new scheme was announced.

(SPG Gold matches to ‘new scheme’ Gold.  Marriott Gold matches to ‘new scheme’ Platinum.  Marriott is now saying that matched statuses will be ignored when deciding your new tier.  This is important as ‘new scheme’ Gold has very few benefits whilst ‘new scheme’ Platinum is the one that will have guaranteed lounge access and 4pm check-out.)

The PDF needs explaining.  These are ‘welcome amenities’.  So, for example, there is NOT a tick next to ‘free breakfast at Marriott’.  This is because it is already a guaranteed Platinum benefit via the lounge or, if no lounge, in the restaurant.  There is a tick next to ‘free breakfast at JW Marriott Resorts’ because this brand does not automatically give free breakfast but a Platinum can now choose to receive it at check-in.

The chart, and the apparent decision to stop Amex Platinum cardholders getting Platinum in August, justifies my decision to do a ‘nine stays Platinum challenge’ at the moment.  I am currently six down with three to go!  We have three days at the JW Marriott in Venice in August (photo above, review here) and getting free breakfast as a Platinum will, in one go, net off the extra costs I have incurred to push nine hotel stays to Marriott.  Any extra benefits I get from Platinum status over 2019 will be a bonus.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (79)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Rachael says:

    We are just about to become platinum members in August and sorry to sound a little green but what is F&B credit / amenity ? Also given the choice which is the best offer, points, breakfast or amenity ?

    • Rob says:

      ‘Food and beverage’ so it gets knocked off anything bar or restaurant bill.

      • Rachael says:

        Thanks, which is the best perk to pick ?

        • Rob says:

          1000 points is worth around £5, a $10 F&B credit is worth around £6-£7 and is ‘real’ cash, so probably better.

        • shd says:

          Depends if you would actually be spending time and cash in the on-property bars or restaurants? If I’m travelling on my own I almost never do, so would almost always take the points instead.

  • mutley says:

    O/T Work takes me to Heathrow area in July/ August. I will be spending approx.20 hotel nights in this period, Any recommendations re; hotels and those to avoid on budget of max £140 nightly?

    • Mark2 says:

      I suggest that you consider hotel-hopping to make as many stays as possible to bag status challenges.

    • Rob says:

      The new Novotel on Bath Road is meant to be good and would work with the Accor offer covered in the other article today.

      The Hilton, Marriott and SPG offers a bit dull.

      IHG Accelerate is the wild card – you need to look at your personalised offers. It could work well because you could hit any stay-based or brand-based targets easily by jumping around the various IHG properties.

      • mutley says:

        Thanks for the replies guys, I will probably hotel hop a bit, ( I have Hilton diamond, Marriot gold, Accor gold) and also an accelerate target. I reckon there are about 25 hotels from the major chains dotted around within a mile and half of the airport. I’ll see if I can get through half of them!

    • roberto says:

      And if you looking at saving a few quid the Premier Inn at T4 has rooms from £45 a night on certain days and is mostly less than £80. Covered walkway from T$ plus free buses to T5 ( & onward connections ) and its not a bad place to lay your head.

  • Adrian says:

    Guys, have any of you recently (in the last week or so) asked Marriott for the platinum challenge? I asked the twitter team this week and was told they “no longer do challenges”. Has anyone been accepted if so how did you do it email/phone? (UK or US?).

    • KBuffett says:

      I was rejected on twitter. Ignored by email twice. Succeeded on the third email request

  • TripRep says:

    Bits O/T

    Any top points deals for Florida car hire, my usual choice of Virgin/Alamo seem expensive, Holiday Autos seem to be offering okay price on a small SUV via Europacar, £450 for 2 weeks.

    Anyone had better recent quotes?

    • roberto says:

      I had a cheap(ish) deal with Avis out of Miami airport recently. Was part of the (now expired 6000 miles promo) but about $24 a day for a group 3 car..

      • TripRep says:

        thanks, I just tried Avis, sadly v expensive too…

        • Ben says:

          Im getting a car for LA in Aug and Sixt seem to be the best…I also hired with this last year and got a nice little upgrade to a convertable 4 series rather than the Mustang

        • TripRep says:

          Ben – thanks will try them too…

    • George says:

      I’m flying into Orlando in the next few days, got a great price with TripWheels as the intermediary. I’m renting toward the top of the price groups and still sub-£50 a day.

      • TripRep says:

        Thanks George not heard of them before.

        This trip is using up my VS PE upgrade vouchers, might be the last time I use them.

        • BLT says:

          Not sure when you are travelling but Hertz France seems to have cheaper SUVs at MCO this summer , around the €430 mark for 2 weeks, that includes Amex platinum CDP code and a premium SUV.

    • Chelseafifi says:

      If you’re a Costco member, they seemed good for states, book under costtravel.co.uk.

    • Alex W says:

      @triprep I use autoslash for cheap car hire eevry time.

  • Optimus Prime says:

    OT – Is BA likely to have a summer sale for short-haul flights? Or have I missed it already? 🙂

  • Ali says:

    OT – £140 annual fee just posted to my PRGC:
    – how long should I expect to wait for the 10,000 bonus MRs to post?
    – if I do gold to plat upgrade, will the £140 go towards the plat fee or be pro rata refunded then £450 charged for plat?

    Thanks!

    • the real harry1 says:

      Took a bit longer than expected for us last time, at least 3 weeks

      the £140 will be refunded pro rata to your Plat a/c, meaning you’re in credit so will need to spend about £1120 to hit the spend target

      sounds like you need your mind making up about Plat: how about getting it then referring self/ others for a range of Amex cards @ 18,000 per referral before cancelling? SPG, Nectar, BA etc, his ‘n hers and it can soon add up

      • Genghis says:

        “the £140 will be refunded pro rata to your Plat a/c, meaning you’re in credit so will need to spend about £1120 to hit the spend target”.

        This is not the case. Fees and refunds thereof do not earn points / count towards target spend etc.

        So assuming a zero balance, the refund would take you say to -£120, you’d spend £1k for the 20k MRs and then have a closing balance of £880.

      • Darren says:

        Thanks TRH1,

        I’ve recently received my Gold to Platinum 20k bonus and will be referring from Platinum, my referees have the BA and PRG, are SPG and Nectar the only options?

  • the real harry1 says:

    O/T
    BLAZE DRAMA London fire – 15 fire engines and 97 crew scrambled to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge after huge blaze sees smoke billowing over capital

    • KBuffett says:

      Less than a week after completion of their new £185m refurb! Ouch. Hope everyone is OK

  • the real harry1 says:

    O/T Raffles: get ye to Kittyhawk!

    Now flights will be available to interested business partners and select social influencers with its handful of Flyer vehicles.

    http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/06/technology/flying-car-las-vegas-kitty-hawk/index.html

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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